#speculating & theorizing about everything that happens off-audio

[galacticlamps]

actually ascension needs its own post since that's the one with the most details to speculate over and im starved for soho talk so i will talk to myself if need be

First the cover again, because I kinda can't get over it:

my only thing is that I had been hoping we might get Lizbeth on a cover again since she's never been on one of the boxsets before, despite being the 2nd person credited on all 4 of them (even if that's just alphabetical, still, she's the only one of the four main characters who never makes the cover)

But letting that go...

I know we already kinda knew the brief for this one but damn I didn't expect it to go quite this hard. Maybe that's just because the Parasite & Ashenden covers were (comparatively) similarish to each other and I was so pleased with Unbegotten's, and then got so used to it as the placeholder for Ascension while they kept postponing it, I wasn't expecting anything this colorful or detailed or with what I can't help but register as Fun New Outfits even though these are still like, pretty damn basic as far as costumes go. Still, it's a different vibe from everyone in suits and trenchcoats on every cover, technically. (Oh the woes of being an audio fan such that two characters owning sweaters actually does qualify as new information)

On top of just being visually delightful though, I know we knew religion was gonna be a fairly big part of this one, but I didn't actually expect to get quite this much of it - though I'm glad of it for a number of reasons. The BF twitter already made the ineffable joke so I don't have to, but also yeah I did very much spend all of season 2 episode 4 of good omens half convinced Samuel Barnett & Dervla Kirwan were about to pop up around any given corner (if you will go around being gay supernatural and horrible at your messy bureaucratic jobs in midcentury soho then I'm sorry, this is where my brain's gonna go) - so, fuel to that fire. But in terms of actual important things, at least one of my Soho wishes looks to be being granted because we have a Rev Edward Folgate on the cast list, which must mean we're finally meeting Norton's father, even if his mother & brother don't appear (which they could, technically, I've definitely seen BF not list all the doublings on their cast tabs before). Religion, domesticity, and the nuclear family are all things that absolutely fascinate me when it comes to Norton's character, so getting any amount of story involving his father & his church is something I've been actively hoping for for a long time now.

(I will say I'm a tiny bit bummed Saffron Coomber isn't on the cast list to play Mia again, but I kinda figured she wasn't going to be since Greg Austin's Armitage, who's making his first recurring appearance after originating in Unbegotten, was listed ever since the boxset was announced - presumably if she was also returning, that would've been handled in the same way. But since Unbegotten ended with Lizbeth and Mia going on a date, I still held out hope. Who knows though, maybe things did go well for them and Lizbeth just has a better work/life balance than Norton so she can date someone without them getting dragged into every scifi plot. I know that's not a very common accomplishment for any Torchwood agent, but a gal can hope)

At this point I know I'm completely in the realm of speculation & even wishful thinking, but I'm really really hoping we get some more clues as to Norton's overall timeline in this one, and I have a feeling that even if there's nothing as direct as dates given, the events of a plot like this one are going to heavily influence my personal interpretation of it.

To say that life & death are major themes for the soho crew feels wildly reductive, but even by Torchwood's standards and taking into account its origins as a piece of media with Jack Harkness & his newfound immortality at the heart of it, the living/dead status of this bunch has always been fantastically up in the air to me. Obviously Ghost Mission introduced Norton as kind of a ghost before revealing more obvious ghostly characters later on to which the title might have been referring, but his being from the past did beg the question of his survival into Torchwood's present era all the same, which Outbreak later alludes to much more directly, and his habit of showing up via hologram in multiple stories only further obfuscates any certainty we might have about where & when he definitely can be said to be alive and well. Then you've got Lizbeth and Gideon both being effectively 'brought back to life' via paradoxes that prevented them ever having died in the first place. Again, they are very very far from being the only Torcwhood characters this happens to (for a sprawling EU, it's really rather impressive how often & in how many different ways Torchwood as a whole manages to circle back to being about like. chaotic undead queers at the end of every day. though I suppose that consistency is part of why I keep falling in love with its different iterations again and again). That's without even getting into the question of Norton's dubious fate in God Among Us - and I say dubious because I know some people take that to be his ultimate death, but I personally think that reading something as vague as that as having any kind of finality rather goes against the spirit of this whole world/series, not just because I want him to live. (There are obviously other ways to make him survive/reappear, but I don't see this as a River Song scenario where we can safely assume one of his earlier-released adventures had to happen at the end of his personal timeline). But wherever God Among Us falls for him, he does very much meet God in it - or at least, a god, since the sentinel in Unbegotten is also described as a god of sorts, and even if he doesn't ultimately have the status of the god Jacqueline King is playing there, Unbegotten is still full to bursting with ghosts/undead/came back wrong/echo characters to continue underscoring that life/afterlife theme.

So all things considered, even allowing for the fact that we know Norton's twin hobbies are lying about himself and abusing time travel to suit his own ends/ever-shifting alliances, I find it difficult to believe we could get through a whole 6-part boxset about religion & death without something providing some kind of compelling evidence about where this adventure fits in among his other run-ins with apocalypses and gods and ghosts and dead-but-still-here characters/creatures, so I'm very much looking forward to any further exploration on that front.

And lastly, and least intellectually, I really want to know what the hell 20th-century Torchwood's obsession with Reginalds is. Reading through the cast list, I had to do two separate doubletakes over the character 'Sir Reginald Peebles' - firstly, because I had Reginald Rigsby on the brain, this being Soho (and the other Troughton brother being so active on BF's releases for this same month) - and secondly, because reading this in conjunction with the announcement for the July monthly adventure in which the new main Torchwood guy of the 20s is apparently called Sir Reginald Dellafield, there was a brief moment where I took that monthly release to be a tie-in with Ascension. I don't expect it to be, but damn. was it really so popular a name?

anyways, catch me thinking about those stained glass windows for the next couple months I guess (and knowing Torchwood Soho, for a long long time after it comes out as well lol)

[hazellvesque]

In Perfect Harmony

A collection of lovesquare centered one-shots, short stories, and drabbles based on song lyric prompts.

AO3

Chapter 1: Kiss The Girl | >>

“She won’t say a word until you kiss the girl.” -The Little Mermaid

Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng

She supposed it could be worse. The last time an akuma escaped them before she was able to purify it, the city was in shambles.

At least now there was no threat of buildings falling down or innocent lives being threatened. But still, it had been two whole days and she was running out of ideas. How was she going to use her power if she couldn’t speak?

When Luka had turned into Silencer, it was different. Her voice still existed somewhere, all she had to do was find a way to get someone else to use it to her advantage.

This time? There were no clever tricks up her sleeve. Even her lucky charm had proved to be utterly useless.

At least she was able to skip her presentation in class on Monday. And with a valid excuse, no less.

“Look at it this way, Ms. Mendeleiev, it could be a lot worse,” Adrien said, gesturing over to Chloe, who had been one of the first to be hit by a blast from The Librarian’s book. She sat hardly upright at her desk, her head barely supported by her left hand as she drifted in and out of sleep.

The Librarian – whose identity was still unknown as she was still running amuck throughout Paris – had been cursing innocent people all over the city with the fates of classic literary characters. Chloe, it seemed, was fated to keep dreaming until her supposed true love came along to wake her. No one was too eager to try.

A few hours after The Librarian’s rampage started, it became clear that some of the victims could be helped, as long as they played along with their stories. Such a solution was easy for people like Ivan and Mylene, who had been able to break Ivan’s beastly curse simply by being in each other’s presence. Since the Beast already had someone he loved who also loved him in return, the spell was broken immediately.

Some people had even been lucky enough to turn water into wine, or have everything they touched turned to gold. The story plaguing – or benefitting – each person was entirely random. Some had even been hit with a blast from the cursed book and noticed no side effects, leaving them to wait in paranoia to see if their siblings would turn wicked or notice that their shoes were all suddenly too small.

Marinette suspected that Lila could have easily been living out the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, and the class would be none-the-wiser, as her grandstanding ways hadn’t changed in the slightest. She thought of the girl getting cursed like Pinocchio instead, and instinctively went to stifle a soundless giggle.

Alya, ever the chatterbox, was one of the worse off. Evidently, she had been cursed to live out the fate of the Greek nymph Echo, who could only speak words that others spoke first. She’d been communicating almost entirely in shrugs, eyerolls, and frustrated gestures for two days now.

Marinette, however, would take a frustrating game of call-and-answer any day over complete silence.

She’d hoped that, since she’d been hit while transformed, the effects would wear off once her Miraculous timed out, but no dice. She resisted the urge to fidget with her earrings – plain black and utterly useless now that she couldn’t call out to Tikki to transform again. At least she’d already used her Lucky Charm before she was hit.

Had this attack happened six months prior, the idea of Chat Noir learning her identity in that moment would have mortified her more than any embarrassing curse. But Adrien had figured out who she truly was – and vice versa – right around the end of the previous school year.

Revealing their identities had made things a hell of a lot harder regarding juggling their personal relationships, but at least Chat Noir was able to see her de-transform and not make a huge deal out of it anymore.

It would still take her a while before watching Adrien turn into Chat stopping being completely weird.

Over half of the class had been afflicted, and the final excuse from Alix, who could now only speak the absolute truth (“Alix, are you ready to present today?” “You know, I could, but it probably won’t be that good.”) sent Ms. Mendeleiev over the edge. Class was dismissed until Ladybug and Chat Noir could set things straight. Whenever that may be.

Adrien hooked his arm around Marinette’s elbow as the students filed out of the classroom, ignoring the looks from Alya and Nino that they’d been getting for months now. Not that any of their speculations were true. After half a year, Adrien and Marinette still hadn’t talked about what would happen next, if anything was to be expected at all. Perhaps if she was cursed to be silent forever they’d never have to have that awkward conversation. Maybe this akuma wasn’t so bad.

“Let me walk you home,” Adrien said, smirking in a way that was all Chat Noir. “No, I insist. Really, it’s not a big deal at all, no need to protest.”

She mustered up her most annoyed glare and hoped it would get her point across clearly.

They entered through the back door, with Adrien giving her parents a quick greeting before whisking her off to her room.

(“That’s so nice of you to be helping Marinette in class,” Sabine gushed. “So polite and considerate!”

Marinette couldn’t even groan in response.)

She opened the trapdoor to her room slowly, careful not to scatter their notes even more. She and Adrien had spent hours trying to theorize ways to purify the akuma, with Marinette communicating entirely in written notes that she haphazardly tossed to the ground every time an idea didn’t work out.

Tikki and Plagg flew out from their respective hiding spots the moment the door shut behind them.

“We’re just lucky you didn’t get hit too,” Plagg muttered to Adrien as he curled up on Marinette’s pillow, Tikki following close behind. “You two had better think of something quick before the akuma comes back for another round.”

Meanwhile Marinette laid back onto her chaise, entirely too frustrated to even think of any new bright ideas.

“Hey,” Adrien said gently, nudging Marinette’s foot aside as he took a seat next to her. “Think of it this way, things could be worse. You might have turned into a scarecrow with no brains. Or had a wicked witch try to fatten you up with cookies.”

Marinette scrunched her nose, pointing downwards towards the general direction of the bakery.

Adrien’s cheeks pinked. “Right. My bad. But your mom and dad are still safe for now, which just means we have to figure out a way to get you back to your old self sooner rather than later. What have we already crossed off the list?”

Marinette sat upright, fetching a stray paper that had some of their better ideas written down.

Ladyblog(?) was the closest thing they’d found to a solution, but even though there were plenty of clips of Ladybug summoning a Lucky Charm, no one had ever caught Marinette on video or audio uttering her transformation phrase, so that was a bust.

Destroy the book was the next best idea, and Chat would have no issue doing so as long as he avoided getting hit by one of its blasts first; but setting the butterfly free without any way to purify it was dangerous. They didn’t want another Stoneheart situation on their hands.

“We can always try to figure out the story you’ve been cursed with,” Adrien uttered the very words Marinette was regretting.

Because they both already knew exactly what story she was living. And it had already been two days.

Once upon a time a little mermaid signed her voice away to a sea witch, desperate to live on land with the prince she had fallen for. If she got him to fall in love with her in three days, she would regain her voice and live out her happily ever after.

No, Marinette thought. That couldn’t be the version she was living.

Ever since the moment they revealed themselves, they’d danced around this conversation, but the facts were clear as day: something much bigger than friendship laid between them. The mere thought of it now brought blood rushing to both of their faces.

Chat Noir had professed his love for Ladybug more times than she could count. Adrien had owned Marinette’s heart since he first gave her his umbrella. The two of them had managed to fall in love with each other without even realizing it.

And regardless of whether or not romance was involved, they were partners. The level of trust, respect, and care they held for each other was unprecedented. They were best friends. No words were needed to understand that.

Love wasn’t the stipulation here. Otherwise, the curse would already be broken.

No. The Librarian had a different idea in mind for them.

In this version of the fairytale, the prince has to kiss the princess in three days’ time to break the spell.

Marinette wanted to take her pillow and scream into it, even though no sound would come out.

It wouldn’t be either one’s first kiss, not even with each other. They had Dislocœur and Oblivio to thank for those instances. But both of those times had been hidden behind the masks and secret identities. This time they’d just be Marientte and Adrien. Friends. Partners. Something more?

Marinette risked a glance at Adrien. He looked back, a small sad smile on his face. Unmasked and honest and looking just as vulnerable as she felt.

“It’s okay. We can think of another way,” he tried to reassure her. “We’ve always found our way out of sticky situations before so. . .”

Marinette placed her hand over his. Slowly, she shook her head.

He stared back at her. Then blinked once, twice. “No?”

She shook her head again.

“You don’t think we can find a solution, do you?”

Marinette sighed and broke eye contact.

Adrien moved to kneel in front of her, making her look at him again.

“Listen,” he took both of her hands into his, effectively making her forget how to breathe for a moment as he spoke. “I have an idea. And I think you do too. Right?”

It took her a few moments to work up the courage to nod.

“But we can always try to think of something else, if you want,” he said gently.

Another moment passed. This time, she shook her head firmly. No. There was no time to sit around avoiding this.

At that, Adrien’s eyes widened. He glanced down at their intertwined fingers and smiled softly, almost laughing.

“I’ll be honest, my lady, this isn’t exactly what I thought of when I pictured this moment.”

He rose to his feet, pulling Marinette up with him. She let herself rise effortlessly, entirely too focused on the words that just left his mouth. He’s thought about this before. She couldn’t stop staring into his eyes. She never thought she’d hear him say those words.

“I thought maybe if I was lucky enough that we’d get to this point someday, I could make some kind of grand gesture. To make up for all of the times we’ve missed the mark before.”

Oh. Right. Chat Noir couldn’t remember either time they’d kissed. So that meant - Marinette realized - that for Adrien, this would be the first.

Adrien’s voice dropped even lower. “If you don’t want things to change, I understand. This doesn’t have to make things any different if you don’t want to. But if you don’t mind me saying this. . . I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time that I really, really want to kiss you. Is that okay?”

If only she could tell him that she’d always wanted things to be different. That for half a year, she’d been waiting for things to change. She’d just never had the courage to say it, all because of the fear of not knowing how he felt. And now she didn’t need to say any words at all to finally express what she’d been wanting to say all along.

Releasing her hold on his left hand, she touched his cheek lightly and pressed her forehead to his, hoping that the gesture was just as clear as a verbal confirmation.

Her eyes fluttered shut as he closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against hers.

She didn’t need to be living a fairytale to feel like she was floating on air. She’d go through years worth of Chat’s incessant flirting and her pent up nervousness over Adrien all over again if she knew it would lead up to this moment. There was no need for a sea witch or a final epic battle, just the relieving feeling of the weight being lifted off her shoulders to tell her that they were heading towards a happy ending.

Ever the gentleman, he pulled away mere seconds later, eyes opening slowly, the pink flush on his face refusing to budge.

“Was that alright?” he frowned slightly at his own question before rephrasing, “Did it work?”

And in response, Marinette giggled - a clear sound that echoed through her room - and whispered “Yes,” before kissing him again.

[operationrainfall]

Title Teleportals Developer PixelGreeds Publisher PixelGreeds Original Release Date June 15th, 2018 Genre Platformer Platform PC Age Rating Unpatched: Mature Patched: 18+

After having played Maytroid and giving it an average score, I decided to review another game by PixelGreeds to see if I would have a similar experience. When it comes to developers that are new to me, I do try to play more than one game by them if available, especially if it proves a group has a wider range, style, and a greater skill set than what a single game can convey. And so, I decided to give an earlier game by PixelGreeds a chance. Teleportals, as one could guess, is named after Portal, yet, similar to Maytroid’s naming, is not quite the carbon copy one should expect going in.

Teleportals is a puzzle-platformer in which you control a woman named Susan, who randomly arrives in an alternate realm. How she got there or why remains a mystery. She soon finds a companion in a one-eyed ball-like creature named Maki, who tells her that time spent in this realm will have an adverse effect on her. The only way to prevent her eventual demise is to escape. The single upside in all of this is that she can teleport to where Maki is dropped. With not much choice, Susan takes Maki with her and begins making her way through this realm in hopes of finding an exit.

The overarching plot of Teleportals is painfully straightforward with escape as a driving force. Susan arrives, wants to leave, and so she goes on her way. As to where she is, how she got there, who these things are that she meets, and how she can teleport with them, none of this is explained. It just is, and we’re meant to take it at face value. Setting all of these questions aside, there is another narrative that takes place, which does a far better job of providing a much needed story element, as well as adding character development. For one, Susan has a backstory, in that she is a scientist researching a virus. Due to her lab running out of funding, one of her colleagues, Nancy, infects herself with said virus in an attempt to garner funding and push the research forward. Susan’s thoughts often return to Nancy, a means for Susan to strive ever closer to escape.

Maki also provides narrative strength, discussing his interest in movies, which serve as his attempts to have Susan open up during their campaign. There are several moments of humor and charm here and they contrast in a particularly satisfying way with Susan’s concern for Nancy and her drive to return and finish her work. We even see Susan forget her troubles at times, hinting at a desire to run away from an anxiety that potentially runs deeper than first implied. In fact, the narrative even suggests that there is more to the situation of Nancy infecting herself than Susan lets on. These glimmers of story are helpful to a weak plot and I would have liked far more than what is delivered.

Why do I say “far more?” Because glimmers of a story do not make an intriguing, immersive experience. More than anything, I felt dissatisfied, as I was left confused, maybe even a little cheated when I finished the game. All we actually get are hints at an underlying conflict that goes beyond the text we are given. The text itself, which I believe is a translation from another language, is not nearly strong enough to make the implications it’s attempting to make. Also, there is no proper resolution to the story at the end. We are left wondering what happened, why, and again, what significance it’s trying to imply. After one ending and credit roll, there are more levels and then a vague epilogue as if those last levels didn’t happen. What was even the point? More mystery? No, just more random nonsense. Zero genuine conclusions can be made with such a fierce lack of details.

The developers want to insinuate that there’s more happening in the plot, but without proper set up and build, it comes off as a collection of fragmented ideas that, again, seem nonsensical. If you’re planning to develop a deep lore, you need details. Vague is not the same as mysterious, nor does it build mystery. Now, there are theories floating around on the game’s Steam discussion board that could potentially make sense and better connect these fragments into a coherent story. However, I believe these theories are simply too far-fetched. Huge stretches need to be made and some major assumptions are necessary for these theories to work. Granted, you can theorize until you’re blue in the face with such a lack of detail and depth. A stronger overarching plot and a far more detailed look into these characters would have turned a forgettable mess of a story into one of legitimate intrigue.

Although Teleportals suffers from this lack of story, a recurring problem I’ve seen from them, its gameplay fares better. As I mentioned, this is a puzzle-platformer, in which the goal is to reach each room’s exit. Every single room is its own puzzle filled with traps for you to avoid and designs that require the unique attributes of your companions. Susan has the ability to swap places with Maki and another character, Bruce, who you meet later on. Susan can run and jump, as well as activate switches. Maki is small and light, allowing him to pass through narrow spaces and also bounce on special platforms when dropped. This bouncing can allow Susan to swap and reach higher areas or launch over hazards. Also, if there is a jump too high for Susan, she can place a companion near the jump point, bounce herself, swap, and ride the momentum for a higher jump. As for Bruce, he is a block-shaped entity that can act as a shield against projectiles or a step for higher platforms. Many of the later rooms will require you to utilize both companions, using their attributes and working them in tandem to reach the exit. Once you start playing, it may seem like gameplay is one-dimensional, but I was easily engaged throughout. There were several puzzles that caused some frustration, but I will admit that it was always pretty satisfying to solve these more troublesome rooms, especially the ones that take you multiple tries.

Other gameplay points include zero penalties for dying and a quick reset button for starting a room over. For the most part, the game is pretty fun and it challenges you thoroughly, however some puzzles have quite a few obnoxious elements to them. Even so, with no consequences to infinite attempts, every puzzle is doable with practice. Also, there is no combat in this game. While there is a means for Susan to destroy certain traps, there are no real enemies to fight. It’s simply surviving each room and exiting, yet the simplicity offers a lot more fun than I could have expected. Finally, gameplay options include support for multiple languages. I can appreciate the wider audience multiple languages can garner, but I’m still wondering if some things got lost in the translation.

My only complaint with Teleportals’ gameplay is in regards to its controls. I had the same complaint previously with PixelGreeds, in that if you wish to use a controller, you must rely on third-party software for any customization. Teleportals requires precision in your moves, so having zero controller customization out of the box is disheartening. Keyboard controls have customization, but if you wish to make changes, you must input all of your changes anew, as you cannot simply change a single key binding.

Moving on to the aesthetics, I had much to say about several of the visual additions seen in Maytroid that basically took a game that could have been for all ages into mature and 18+ territories. This seems to be PixelGreeds’ style, as an ecchi CG gallery that can become fully 18+ with a patch is present here. And, as in my Maytroid review, this inclusion does nothing for Teleportals. It’s senseless, as it limits the potential audience that can play this game. Perhaps my opinion is an unpopular one, but not everything needs naked women to make it better. Putting that time and effort towards the plot would have made more sense. Or, if you want hentai in your game, make it the focus of the game and don’t just tack it on. Having said that, the artists responsible for these CGs do seem to have a bit of talent. I only wish those talents were utilized in the form of in-game CGs to support dialogue or other on-screen events.

As for the in-game presentation, the aesthetics are satisfactory with its 16-bit visual style. Even though this game uses the same tilesets and backgrounds as Maytroid, they are no less impressive. Several different environments are depicted, from dusty deserts to snow-covered forests. It’s hinted that these environments even symbolize the symptoms of the virus Susan is researching. For example, one of the early symptoms is coughing or a sore throat. She makes this comment while in an arid desert, which is an early game area. A later symptom is a high fever and the connection is Susan commenting that she doesn’t feel cold, despite walking around wearing only a nightie while traveling through a snowstorm. As this narrative takes place later in the game, it points to the later stage symptoms of the disease.

Unfortunately, these connections to location, time, and viral symptoms all amount to speculation, theorizing, and tidbits the developers mention on Steam, as none of this is ever directly addressed in-game. A stronger symbolism or one with more direct connections would have made more impact. I realize this is another criticism of narrative, not aesthetics, but give me a strong, fleshed out story first, and then pepper it with secrets using the other facets of the game. Having said that, the storytelling flaws don’t take away from the quality of the visuals themselves. Finally, the audio is fair, with each track pairing to their locations adequately. My complaints are that the music itself isn’t all that memorable and there is too little of it. I think I counted just four or five tracks in the entire game. Also, these tracks may actually be the same ones used in Maytroid, but again, unmemorable.

Teleportals as a whole is a collection of great gameplay elements beaten down by unfinished ideas and bad decisions. If you were to strip away the plot and the lewdness, then the gameplay by itself would most definitely serve as a fantastic base for a potentially great game. I would even say by expanding gameplay further and properly addressing the plot, this would have had the makings of a hidden gem. The game can be completed in a single sitting, clocking in between three to five hours. Perhaps its saving grace, Teleportals can be picked up for $1, even less during a sale. So, if you’re in the mood for some quick platforming fun, and not a darn thing more, then maybe Teleportals is worth your consideration.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”2.5″]

Review copy provided by developer.

TBT REVIEW: Teleportals Title Teleportals Developer PixelGreeds Publisher PixelGreeds Original Release Date June 15th, 2018 Genre Platformer Platform PC…

[talhaghafoor2019-blog]

The Bigotry of CNN’S Jeff Zeleny: Vegas Country Music Crowd Likely Full of Trump Supporters

RUSH: I want to get started on the phones here. Still much to touch on as the program unfolds. This is Richard, Buena Park, California. Great to have you, sir. How are you?

CALLER: Rush, good to talk to you. Longtime listener, first-time caller. Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something that nobody else is talking about. This is pure speculation on my part. This is, you know, something that I, you know, come to conclude. But what if this guy, the shooter, the Vegas attacker might have had similar motivations as the James Hodgkinson’s attempted assassination of Steve Scalise at the congressional baseball game? I’m not hearing anybody talking about that. The speculation of the ISIS terrorist, that’s been thrown out the window. But that’s my thinking.

RUSH: I don’t want to burst your bubble, but a lot of people are talking about this angle that the shooter was a leftist taking a shot at Trump supporters because these are country music fans. Folks, the people advancing this theory, interestingly, are leftists, and they’re doing it to criticize Trump. Leftist media people are saying, “You know, the people at this concert are a bunch of country people. You know who they are, right? A bunch of Trump voters.”

Well, there’s a lot about country people that the Democrats don’t like. They vote Republican. Many of them are Christian. They like the flag. They love Lee Greenwood, for example. They don’t like much of what the left stands for. The left thinks of country music fans as no different than slave owners in the old antebellum days, NASCAR drivers, NASCAR fans. They hold their nose when they think about this.

So the guy targeting country music supporters in some leftist views is somebody attacking Trump voters. And so just like our caller here, people are speculating, this guy must have been a Democrat or a leftist angry at people that elected Trump, and so he starts mowing ’em down. Now, before you start cackling, here’s audio sound bite number nine, Jeff Zeleny at CNN. He’s a former reporter for the New York Times, and he was on a program called At This Hour. This is from yesterday, but get this.

ZELENY: Las Vegas is a town that he is connected to and knows well. His name is emblazoned on the top of the hotel there as well. He campaigned there a little. Something else I think to keep in mind. A lot of these country music supporters were likely Trump supporters. And this is something that of course is hitting the tapestry of all Americans and they’re going to be victims from across the country here.

RUSH: What would you call that but bigotry? Identity politics has gone off the rails to such a degree that Jeff Zeleny at CNN identifies the concertgoers as Trump supporters. Now, what Zeleny went on to say was that the reason that matters is that Trump knows that the people at that concert were probably his supporters, and so the theory is that Trump is gonna care more about Las Vegas because they were his supporters that got shot, as opposed to caring about other things.

This is out there in the Drive-By Media. The reason Trump was somber, and the reason Trump attempted to make people sound like he cares. Oh, yeah, the media is not giving Trump any props for his remarks yesterday, saying he faked it, had to rely on the prompter, said that’s not who Trump really is, and if he dares go off prompter he’s not gonna be able to keep up this act of grief. They’re saying that Trump’s grief is not real, it’s an act, ’cause he really doesn’t care.

Then this guy comes along, wait, those are Trump supporters that got killed and Trump may end up caring about this more than, say, Puerto Rico because it was his supporters. And in Puerto Rico they’re all Democrats. So Trump probably doesn’t care. They’re saying these kind of things, folks. And late night comedians are saying these kinds of things, or will. Trump, meanwhile, is in San Juan. He landed there today.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Great example, by the way, of what is meant when I say the left politicizes everything. Jeff Zeleny at CNN, and he’s looking at a country concert in Las Vegas, and automatically politicizing it by assuming everybody there is a Trump fan because they’re country western hayseeds and hicks. You can’t escape it. You cannot escape the left’s attempt to politicize everything, primarily for the purposes of being derogatory toward people.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: What would happen if an incident occurred at a rap concert and a bunch of Republicans said, “Well, you know, everybody in there is a Democrat voter. Everybody attending is a Democrat voter.” And then started making some political comments on the incident based on that observation? What do you think the reaction would be?

But, no, here the Democrats, the media can theorize that the crowd was all Trump supporters, and that’s why Trump cares more about this than he does San Juan, Puerto Rico. It’s why he cares about this more, why he really got somber and really looked like he was grieving, which he was faking, because it’s his supporters that got shot. Just incredible.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Jerry, Flagler Beach, Florida. Great to have you, sir. How are you?

CALLER: Thank you, Rush. I wanted to tell you that this morning on Fox News they had a forensic psychologist that actually kind of made my point. I told my wife the moment I heard about this that I bet anything, with the age of the guy, he’s just an angry man who is acting out like the guy that went into the softball field after the Republican softball team.

And that’s exactly what this forensic psychologist said, you know, the guy, he’s too old to try to make a name for himself. He’s a man of means, he had the money, he had a lot of time to plan it out. He picked his victims because they seemed, you know, it appears would be the reprehensible people who needed to be taught a lesson, so to speak.

RUSH: Wait, wait, wait, hold it a minute. This is what the forensic psychologist said?

CALLER: Yes. This was his number one conclusion that he’s believing that this is exactly where it’s gonna come down to because of a variety of factors that he talked about, but that was kind of the short scenario of it.

RUSH: Why would these people be reprehensible, the people he shot? What about them makes ’em reprehensible?

CALLER: Well, if he’s thinking that they’re Trump supporters who, you know, love country music, a bunch of rednecks —

RUSH: Okay. You actually heard a forensic psychologist on Fox today say that this was a political shooting?

CALLER: He said that that’s where he’s leaning to, that it looks the most logical aspect from his experience of dealing with why people go out and commit crimes, particularly of this type of nature. And, you know, I mean, it makes perfect sense to me. That was my first inclination altogether. And then you just had the segment about the news media people have basically been pointing this same thing out. They’re actually hoping that that was it. And it all drives down to —

RUSH: One person, a CBS executive, said she thought these people deserved it. The other media person of name and repute that’s pointing it out is Jeff Zeleny of CNN, formally the New York Times, and his point was that Trump is gonna care more about this disaster than any others because it was his voters that were shot. I mean, that’s the presumption here.

I haven’t heard anybody announce a theory for this, forensic psychologist or not, but you’re the second guy who’s heard somebody compare this shooting to the lunatic that shot up Steve Scalise and the Republicans practicing baseball. I don’t have any idea. There’s all kinds of theories that have been espoused, brought forward to explain this, because everybody’s dying to know. Nobody can fathom doing this.

There’s not a single one of us that can fathom having 40-some-odd weapons and modifying a couple of them so that they fire rapidly and then gunning down as many people as we can see out of a hotel room. We just don’t do that, so what would make somebody want to do it? And I’ve always cautioned, it is very, very risky to start analyzing irrational people from your rational point of view.

Irrational people are tough to figure out if you’re not a professional, ’cause you start applying your own worldview to things, “I would never do this. What would make somebody do this?” And if you’re not irrational to begin with, not to the degree this guy of us, you’re gonna be flailing away and guessing. But I appreciate the call very much, Jerry.

Here’s Paul in Kernersville, North Carolina. You’re next, sir. Welcome.

CALLER: Hello, Kemosabe. I’m responding to the gentleman that called in from Vegas that was under fire during the episode yesterday.

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: I just wanted to make the point to the listeners that our men and women in the service and our policemen, they face this type of thing every day, and it’s about time this country shows more respect to these people. They come home from fighting and they’re injured. They try to forget what they’ve seen. This young man that saw this in Vegas, he’ll never forget that the rest of his life, being shot at. So that’s my two cents, Rush.

RUSH: That’s actually a good point. Not only he’ll never forget being shot at, he’ll never forget seeing the carnage, never get those pictures out of his mind. But, you know, you have a really, really good point. Law enforcement and military combat people face this almost every day, and they have to find ways to get past it every day. They have to find ways to try to live normal lives every day, despite living their lives the way they do.

Police officers come under fire. It happens to them. They have to find ways around it. They have to find ways to stay stable. They have to find ways to stay mentally adjusted. But look what’s being said about them, look what’s being done to them. We have whole groups of people not saluting the national anthem because they think the cops are a bunch of murdering racists. So they have to put up with that, too, in addition to everything else that they have to face. And they don’t make a whole lot of money. I mean, they don’t have a hundred grand to wire to the Philippines like Paddock apparently did before his shooting rampage in Las Vegas.

They do it for reasons that go way beyond what they’re paid. And they often are not — in fact, not only are they not shown respect, they are under attack frequently by political forces in this country, which are almost always from the left, attempting to impugn them and mock them. So, yeah, that’s an excellent point, Paul.

This content was originally published here.